Wow, there are a LOT of questions here. I'll try to field as many of these as I can... >Well, I'd like to hear more about the CFMF following The conquest of
>Zardon. I mean, Miles Nasmith had a lot of start up problems that Red
>avoided or at least we haven't heard about.
Unlike the Miles Naismith of the Vorkosigan-verse (to distinguish from his UF counterpart), the CFMF had no difficulty regarding income. The combination of licensing fees from RebelTech weapons designs and siezed contraband from blockades of Zardon worlds allowed the Freespacers to expand their military force through the end of the conflict, after which they contracted with the Salusian crown for a very lucrative ten-year contract.
Shortly after that contract expired, the Greub Pretendership arose, leading to en eighteen-month period during which a combination of WDF, Centauri and CFMF ships and personnel were employed in the massive reorganization of the entire Salusian military. This incident revealed the CFMF's lack of strength in heavy ships- it possessed only two cruisers, and nothing heavier, at this point in time. In response, the fleet began a massive effort in researching shipbuilding designs which would allow the CFMF to maintain its hit-and-run specialty with larger vessels.
In 2026, two of the Freespacers' new ships of the line were hijacked from drydock by partisans of the exiled Zardon Empress Dowager Malificent. These ships formed the core of the potent fleet which opposed a combined CFMF, WDF, Zardon Republic and Salusian Empire battle force in the two-year War for the Imperial Restoration. This war demonstrated both flaws and advantages in the new designs, and refinements were made as expansion was placed on hold. Fewer than twenty new ships, most of them corvettes, were commissioned in the CFMF between 2030 and 2098.
The second great building expansion came about as a consequence of the Sixth Great Kilrathi War (2098, 2100-2117), during which the CFMF managed not to lose a single ship despite -massive- damage and casualties. It is from this period that the tradition of rebuilding all Freespacer ships- no matter how damaged- solidified. In the century which followed, all the old Freespacer ships were refitted or rebuilt from the keel up, and another fifty ships were commissioned. In 2199, CFMF Tinker (CFF-100) was launched, the fleet's first battlecruiser, and the fleet stood at its then-peak strength of 103 capital ships.
The century that followed, however, was not nearly as rosy. Heavy targeted competition from companies such as GENOM's BudgetArms division and Corellian Engineering Corporation's YT-2000 line of freighters heavily undercut RebelTech Industries' sales, and thus the CFMF's financial base. The problem was exacerbated by the gradual expansion of the WDF and the general peace (with occasional flare-ups) which reigned for most of the 23rd Century. Finally, the Tinker's design proved buggier than all its predecessors (only to be expected, since the Tinker had three times the crew requirements and six times the mass of any other Freespacer-built warship of the time). As a result, not only did the fleet not expand, but it -decommissioned- one ship and, shortly after the sinking of SDF-17 Wayward Son, it lost another one when its captain turned pirate.
The Exile period found the CFMF's ships growing obsolescent due to lack of refits, its financial underpinnings unraveling, and its morale at its lowest ebb. Throughout the period, the fleet fought not only attacks from enemy star empires and pirates, but also financial wars in the board-rooms and stock exchanges and confused markets of the unravelling Galactica. With significant support from Salusia, it managed all of this with great success, and although less-than-covert opposition from GENOM prevented them from further expanding the fleet, by 2388 the CFMF was in the best morale, manpower, and financial situation it had ever known.
Boy, did it need it.
After Zeta Cygni II, the Freespacers had, of their original fleet, CFMF Camelot, CFMF Valiant, CFMF West Side Story, CFMF T'Pau, and CFMF Confederacy. The introduction of the "Gift Fleet" made up of surplus WDF and captured GENOM ships acted as a stopgap until the Freespacers could build new ships of their own design, but their presence and continued use mandated an expansion beyond RebelTech designs. Starting in 2389, the CFMF began serious purchasing of newly constructed ships from Utopia Planitia, Kuat Drive Yards, and Corellian Engineering, in addition to recruiting from smaller mercenary fleets. By 2394 the CFMF once more numbered over a hundred warships, averaging four times the tonnage and guns of its previous incarnation, and by 2406 it had doubled that number again, making it (after the WDF, GENOM MILARM, UFP Starfleet, and Salusian Royal Navy) the fifth largest starfleet in the Federation.
During the history of the CFMF, its civilian arm has grown massively. In 2005 ten civilian ships were already either owned by RebelTech or pledged allegiance to the Confederate Freespacers Alliance. Ten years later that number had grown to fifty. In 2405 the number of active ships registered with the Alliance (CFA-XXXX) was well over three thousand, with a further thousand inactive for various reasons (destroyed, sold, decommissioned, etc.). The population of the Freespacer nation likewise grew, especially during times of chaos and unrest; about 1,000 in 2005, 12,000 in 2015, 100,000 in 2100, 500,000 in 2200, over 1 million by 2300, 1.5 million by 2380, and over 2 million by 2400.
>Also, there's the whole thing about being freespacers. Do the
>Freespacers have an arch rivals (eg WDF v Genom). How does Redneck
>become the Galatica Assembly representative?
There are many smaller mercenary fleets which come and go through history which look with envy and mistrust at the CFMF... mostly because the CFMF tends to steal their 'best and brightest.' There is also a friendly rivalry between WDF and CFMF, and after the founding of the Federation a -much less- friendly rivalry between the UFP Starfleet and CFMF. After 2368, Earth government (except for the Republic of Texas and the Principality of Zanzibar) is quietly hostile to the CFMF, and after the Psi Act passes this hostility is reciprocated.
The United Galactica was originally an alliance between the Salusian and Corellian star empires and lesser powers against their shared foes (Zardon and Kilrah, and occasionally the Klingons). It was not a true galactic-level governing body until the reforms of 2099 made it so. The Freespacer nation, which had not been part of the defense alliance's decision-making body, was a charter member of the new Galactica Accords, and as such was seated in the first meeting of the new Galactica Assembly.
However, the Galactica Assembly had HUNDREDS of ambassadors in it, and as such its gears moved slowly, slowly indeed. In 2132, when the then-head-of-state of the Freespacers could not find anyone willing to represent the Freespacers in the Assembly, he put the touch on the Redneck, who was not to find his own replacement until 2202. Virtually the only legislation of note he put forward in those seventy years that passed was the Proto-Sapients Act, which gave protection for those sapient species which, due to morphology, level of intelligence or other conditions, could be abused by other races.
>Also, how did Washu get her TV show?
The Freespacers began an entertainment network and production company as part of the Zardon Civil War; it continued on after the war. "Washuu's Lab" is the only show the Freespacers produced in the 24th Century to achieve galaxy-wide popularity.
>You've some manticorans on your staff, how did they get there?
Star Kingdom of Manticore, two systems/four worlds/three stars, Enigma Sector, settled from Earth c. 2030. Not a Federation member world, but one of the twenty or so tiny independencies which huddle in the nebulae and gravitic anomalies of Enigma Sector.
>Hell, how did _Aral Vorkosigan_ become a freespacer. That's gotta be
>a good story. Do Cordelia and Miles exist?
Barrayaran Star Empire, three systems of one world each, Enigma Sector bordering the Cardassian Regime, settled c. 2040. Barrayar lost contact with the rest of the galaxy when three black holes converged around Barrayar's primary in close enough proximity (3 LY) to render hyperspace passage through the Barrayaran nebula impossible and warp transit almost suicidal. The black holes had too much velocity to remain in this conjunction for very long, and eventually they separated enough to allow passage along a narrow corridor to the corporate-owned border colony of Komarr. This passage was discovered by a WDF scout in the 2270s.
Not long after the Son's demise, GENOM took over control of Komarr; shortly after this, when GENOM failed to gain a solid foothold in Barrayar's economy or political structure (despite a 200-year Dark Age), the corporation invited Cardassia to invade Barrayar in exchange for certain economic considerations. The twenty-year long Cardassian Incursion which followed ended with ignominous defeat for the Cardassians, engineered in no small part by one Piotr Vorkosigan. A generation later (2363), a modernized Barrayarran Imperial Service force under the overall command of Piotr's son Aral practically walked into possession of Komarr, having nullified Komarr's defenses almost without a fight.
A large part of the ease of the conquest was due to Aral Vorkosigan's pledge of amnesty for the colony's board of directors. This pledge was violated by an officer of the Ministry of Political Information, who ordered the board executed. Aral responded by killing the officer with his bare hands, leading to a serious clash of political wills between the Council of Counts, the Political Ministry, and the Emperor himself. The net result was that Aral was stripped of rank and title and exiled from Barrayar; out of respect for his father, the hero of the Cardassian occupation, his bloodline was not attainted, and thus any male offspring he would have would succeed Piotr as Count.
Aral ended up with the Freespacers, who had been Barrayar's allies in the Komarr conquest only to sever ties after the 'Solstice Massacre.' As captain of the CFMF Grant, he became acquainted with an expatriate from Beta Colony, Cordelia Naismith. In 2368 Aral commanded the forces which repulsed the attempted Barrayaran invasion of Escobar; shortly after this he and Cordelia were married. They have two sons as of 2388, one by adoption and one by birth.
There are more details, but they make up a LOT of 'Elements of Command,' so this is all you get for now.
>Part of the Freespace constitution is the asylumn. What happens when
>planetary governments go after the freespacers?
Not a lot. Only the Zardon Republic's Department of Justice and the Earth Alliance do not respect the Freespacer pledge of amnesty, and both of these are a result of incidents in the 2360s.
>Have the freespacers ever fought the Gamilions?
Yes, during their brief war against Earth. The small Gamilon expatriate community in the Freespacer Alliance dates from just after that war.
>What was it like for Washu to teach on Tomodachi?
Humbling.
>What did Washu do after Sonset?
As is alluded to in Wilderness, Washuu spent the entire 23rd Century watching after Redneck's affairs, including a term of office as chief of state of the Freespacer nation. After Sonset she took on an apprentice and provided an occasional service to Lt. Cdr. Martin Rose's group of WDF officers, which became "ThunderForce".
>What other adventures did Kris go on during his "walkabout?"
Quite a few, but none has come to mind that I care to write. One of my toss-off jokes is that there's three years of it I'll -never- write, because that's where we put the series we don't want in UF.
>Does Kris ever visit New Texas?
Frequently.
>How did the Olympus adventure end? We know kris escaped/was released,
>but that's it. What's the real story behind the disolution of the US,
>the creation of Olympus, and the Texas Republic?
Okay, this part is more fluid and subject to change than the rest, but:
Nobody won Earth's Third World War, but the USA was a bigger loser than many. For about twenty years the nations of Earth struggled to rebuild their nations and resist the climactic changes the mid-level nuclear exchange had triggered. Vast amounts of tax money went into dikes for the larger coastal cities, anti-radioactivity cleanup, and global cooling efforts. As a result, the world's economy went into the crapper as people sacrificed their standard of living in exchange for maintaining the planet's viability.
The general dissatisfaction of the people of Earth with the situation, and the lack of a United Nations governing body to mediate disputes, led to small border wars and insurrections, and then finally a series of conventional wars which are collectively called the Fourth World War. Canada bailed out Russia's economy, and the two nations effectively merged; Mexico suffered a series of revolutions, resulting in the Golden Empire of Mexico; and California, its state government bankrupted beyond reclamation, was effectively bought by GENOM and seceded to form the California Corporate Free State.
The United States government, bordering on bankruptcy itself, decided to allow California to go in peace; most of the southern USA, in reaction seceded to defend what it called 'the empire of democracy.' Imperial Americana promptly declared war on California, and the USA, Canada and Russia declared war on the Americana, and other wars popped up here and there, and it took ten years of constant war before things settled down.
In the aftermath of the Fourth World War, a little-known organization named Olympus announced its intention to assume duties as representative of a United Earth to the galactic community and to serve as a meeting-place for diplomats from all the warring nations. Although this offer was accepted in principle, in practice Olympus had very little real authority until the 2370s. It was not able to stop the wars completely, although it -did- break up the alliance of Canada, Russia and the rump USA.
By 2320 Imperial Americana had achieved stalemate with the USA, but only at the cost of heavy indebtedness to GENOM. GENOM essentially controlled Imperial Americana from this point onwards, using the nation to put pressure on Olympus on the diplomatic front and the rump USA on the military front. Any efforts not directed towards these two goals in specific, or GENOM's eventual conquest of Earth in general, were given very low priority.
The capital of Imperial Americana is Austin, Texas; thus that state, or at least its major cities, was of primary importance to them. Being in the interior, however, it was not given much in the way of police forces or defenses against the bandit bands and large animals which roamed its rural areas. In the 2350s, Imperial Americana fought a very short, very decisive war with Mexico, which restored the Valley of Mexico to its prior status as a lake, and a lake which glowed in the dark at that. With its southern border emphatically secured, Imperial Americana stripped Texas of troops for its main battle line along the Ohio and Potomac Rivers.
As a result, the interior badlands of the IA, and of Texas especially, became almost uninhabitable due to bandit and predator dangers. In 2362 a couple of counties in eastern Texas hired a small group of Freespacer mercenaries to help put down bandits in the area. Imperial Americana responded by ordering the deaths of all the officials and their families, and the police force became a guerrilla army dedicated to protecting their homes from the IA's misgovernment.
Over the following five years, the small army grew, organizing and equipping as its influence spread over the area. In 2367, they finally began kicking the IA entirely out of the eastern portion of Texas. The captures of Beaumont and Lufkin, and the interception of IA army payrolls, enabled the army to hire spacegoing elements of the CFMF to interdict IA aerospace traffic. By the end of that year, the IA air forces had ceased to exist.
Threatened at its very heart, the IA managed to shake loose two armies from its ongoing war with the USA in an attempt to crush the newborn Republic of Texas through numbers. Through heavy support from the CFMF, the Texas army fought one army to a standstill along the Trinity River, eventually making its position untenable; then, moving its entire force across its small territory, it cut off another army twice its size from its lines of supply and forced its surrender.
These battles secured the Republic's ongoing existence, especially as the two defeats allowed the Texas army to take Houston almost intact. They also put the IA at a severe disadavantage against the USA, as the latter made serious advances into IA-held territory. Desperate to stave off a total unravelling of its position on Earth, GENOM used its client nations' influence (California, IA, and the Holy Republic of Munma) to sever diplomatic ties with the Freespacers and engineer the CFMF's exit from the war. From this point until the Corporate Wars of 2388, Imperial Americana remained on the defensive, unable to reclaim the bits and pieces of Texas and Louisiana which fell into the Republic's hands.
After the war, Olympus was replaced by the Earth Alliance. Imperial Americana, which had surrendered to GENOM without a shot, was for the most part reunited with the USA. The Republic of Texas took control of its historic territory, plus Oklahoma and the southwestern corner of Louisiana, and became one of three Earth nations which did not join the Earth Alliance.
>Hell, what's the deal with Jeremy Freeple and Leeana?
She has the hots for him; at some point between 2005 and 2015, she was able to consummate whatever relationship they have together.
Any other questions?
Red wizard needs money badly...
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